A family-owned daily newspaper serving Riverton, Lander and Fremont County, Wyoming since 1949

Listening session in city was helpful to senator

Feb 28, 2013 - U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, Washington, D.C.

Editor:

Last week, Diana and I travelled more than 2,000 miles across Wyoming. We held "collecting common sense for Washington from Wyoming" listening sessions in 11 communities in the state.

We were pleased to hear from Riverton area residents. What always impresses me about the people of our state is their ability to come up with new ideas to solve the most complex of problems. We don't need to be told how to live our lives or have someone do the hard work for us, we know what needs to be done and we just do it. That's what we need more of in Washington.

Concerns about gun control, the sequester (federal spending cuts) and the extent to which the federal government is a part of our lives were part of the discussion in every community I visited.Riverton area residents also brought up concerns about violence against women, Medicare, foreign relations, the Job Corps center, and federal land management, among quite a few other topics.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to share your thoughts and ideas with me. While it'll take me some time to absorb everything that was shared, the listening sessions were definitely a learning experience.

I appreciate all the great ideas and great Wyoming common sense.

And please, keep it coming. You can get ideas to me by calling my Casper Office (307-261-6572), my D.C. office (1-888-250-1879) or e-mailing me through my web page at enzi.senate.gov. It's more difficult for me to respond to comments on my Facebook page and Twitter, but I review them as closely as possible. I encourage you to "like" and "follow" @SenatorEnzi.I send out frequent updates when the Senate is in session.